Chapter Sixteen
A Friend Out Of Time
Across the spatial rift, and oblivious to the true nature of his captivity, the Doctor was sitting with his back against the wall of his sealed prison, absently watching the extraordinary colors as they swirled and flowed along the interior surfaces. After examining every square inch of the room, he had found no sign of an exit. He had, however, found that while initially the walls felt solid, they became semisolid when pressure was applied, thus allowing his hand to penetrate. This caused him to hope that he might be able to actually pass through the wall to escape. But after sinking his arm into the substance all the way up to his shoulder, he found nothing but more wall beyond and abandoned the idea. The last thing he wanted was to get himself trapped in a block of material that might very well solidify without warning.
Eventually the Doctor resigned himself to the fact that he was good and properly trapped, and if he were ever going to get out it would have to be with outside help.
Unbeknownst to the Doctor, outside help was already on the way in the form of a cloud of smoke. After crossing the rift, Asta had been slightly disoriented and took a moment to recover. She then discovered, to her joy, that her use of the mental energies of the Doctor's other self had kept her free of Ormril's control, something she had been uncertain of, but had been unwilling to share least the Time Lord refuse to help her. Within minutes she had located the sealed cube containing the captive life force while at the same time successfully avoiding an encounter with her former Master.
Within the cube, the Doctor sat up with a start when he became aware of a powerful alien presence moving closer. Thinking his captor was returning to finish him off, he glanced nervously around the empty room, stiffening visibly when a cloud of smoke suddenly rose out of the floor just short distance in front of him.
"Don't be afraid, Doctor," Asta said in a quiet, soothing tone. "I'm not here to hurt you. I'm here to help."
Although startled by both the feminine voice and the gentleness of the tone, the Doctor eyed the entity suspiciously. "And who are you?"
"I'm a friend of yours."
"Indeed? You'll forgive my impertinence, but I think I'd remember having a cloud of smoke as a friend."
Asta responded with a disarming girlish giggle. "Indeed you shall, Doctor, but I'm a friend from your future. I was party to the event that's the cause of your present situation."
"My fut—?" The Doctor's eyes widened. "Do you mean my own personal future?"
"Yes. The one who kidnapped you will one day be your enemy. He's foolish enough to believe that by killing you before you meet, he'll be able to succeed in the plan that you caused to fail," Asta explained.
"And this is to take place in my recent future?"
Asta stopped herself from replying, saying instead, "I can't tell you that. As a Time Lord, you must understand that there is much I can't tell you. Not without altering what is to come. Even to tell you my name would have an affect."
The Doctor sighed heavily and nodded, mentally kicking himself for letting his curiosity get the better of him. His own personal future was one of the few space/time events closed to him. The least little slip could alter its course with devastating results. "Can you—?" He stopped before finally asking, "My present. Can you tell me of that?"
"Yes."
"My companion. Is he alright?"
"Yes. He's safe and unharmed, Doctor. It's you who's the target, not him." The Time Lord's concerned expression did not change and his rescuer added, "He's very worried about you."
"He's not the only one," the Doctor muttered darkly.
Asta could sense her former Master close by and spoke in an urgent tone. "Doctor, there isn't much time so, please, listen. This place is outside your own reality. It's an illusion created by conscious mental energy—"
"You mean, like a dreamscape?"
Asta hesitated. The workings of her old dimension were a thousand times more complicated than this, but she had no time to explain. "It's similar in that it doesn't adhere to the conventional laws of your universe."
"Of course, it's controlled by thought!" the Doctor gasped. "That's why I stopped falling."
"Doctor, please! There isn't time!" Asta scolded sharply. "Your TARDIS was dragged forward through your time stream creating a temporal ripple. It caused you to overlap with one of your other selves. It was he who enabled me to find you."
The Doctor opened his mouth, only to close it again. This was almost too much even for him to take in. A rumble of thunder suddenly shook the room, increasing in intensity to the point where it seemed the enclosure would shake itself apart. Grateful he was already on the floor, the Doctor said mildly, "Thunderstorm or earthquake? Which was it?"
"Neither. He is coming."
The Doctor was immediately on his feet. "Are you sure?"
Asta ignored the inquiry. "Doctor, you must return to your own time without delay."
"I assume you know how I'm to do that?" he said acidly, indicating his shackles. "I'm not exactly in a position to run, now am I?"
"There's no time to explain, so you'll have to trust me. I can return you to your own universe, but you must initiate the contact first."
The Doctor gave her a skeptical look. "Just like that? And then what? Do I disappear in a puff of smoke?"
His rescuer heaved an exasperated sigh. "You're not in a position to argue, either. Now do you want to get out of here or not?"
The Time Lord's dubious expression did not change. Too much had happened to him since his arrival in this strange place for him to trust anyone out of hand. How could he be certain it was not just another ploy by his captor to gain whatever it was he wanted from him?
"I was told," Asta said quickly, "that if you were hesitant, I should tell you 'Brave heart,' and you would understand its meaning."
With a knowing smile, the Doctor replied, "I do," the message having erased the distrustful look from his face. How many times had he said those very words to Tegan when she was hesitant or afraid? Had Turlough told his rescuer to say this?
Before the Doctor could inquire further, Ormril returned in what his prisoner considered an overly dramatic manner. There was a clap of thunder and the far wall vanished. The colors out side flared brilliantly and then moved away as the dark spot returned on the horizon.
"So! My servant returns at last. Excellent," Ormril boomed delightedly. "It brings me what I need to know. Which means I can dispose of you, Time Lord."
The chains at the Doctor's hands and feet suddenly came to life, dragging him back and pinning him helplessly against the wall.
Horrified, the Doctor gave the cloud of smoke a stricken look, thinking himself the victim of an elaborate, if cruel, trick. To his immense relief, the entity put herself between him and his captor, his shackles vanishing the same instant.
"I no longer serve you!" Asta snarled forcefully. "And I will not allow you to harm the Doctor."
"You will not allow?" Ormril exclaimed. "You will not allow! I am your Master!" He then exploded into a fit of the same bombastic prattle the Doctor had grown weary of.
Seizing the opportunity, Asta moved deeper into the room. In spite of himself the Doctor stiffened visibly, pressing himself harder against the wall as the cloud suddenly bore down on him. He was keenly aware of the fact that he was still trapped in the room, and caught his breath when the cloud of smoke abruptly engulfed him.